1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of integrated circuit design and, more specifically, to integrated circuit memory devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present invention, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Computer systems and other electronic devices typically include a variety of electrically interconnected integrated circuit (IC) packages which perform a variety of functions, including memory and processing functions. Many memory devices employ a circuit element known as a capacitor to store a charge corresponding to a logical voltage level. For example, an uncharged capacitor may represent a logical low and a charged capacitor may represent a logical high.
Capacitors have a property known as capacitance that relates to the ability of an individual capacitor to store a charge. The amount of charge that a capacitor is able to store is proportional to the capacitance of the capacitor. Capacitance is typically measured in farads or smaller increments, such as microfarads or picofarads. If a capacitor has a sufficiently low capacitance, it may not be able to store a charge corresponding to a logic level long enough to meet design specifications for an integrated circuit device.
The capacitance of a capacitor is proportional to the size of the capacitor. Accordingly, the ability of a capacitor to hold a charge long enough to meet design criteria for integrated circuit devices may diminish as capacitor size becomes increasingly small. This is unfortunate because small device size is generally a desirable goal of integrated circuit design. As technology advances, manufacturers of integrated circuits develop processes that allow the production of smaller and smaller integrated circuit devices. Thus, it is a desirable design goal to increase the capacitance of a capacitor while decreasing the overall physical size of the capacitor.